The invention relates to a filtering device, in particular, a filtering device to be directly connected to a suction port of a pump.
A suction port of a fuel pump for an internal combustion engine is provided with a filtering device for preventing foreign materials in a fuel tank from being sucked. The filtering device includes a flat-type bag member with fine mesh made of nylon, resin fibers and so on, a pump connecting port projecting from an outer surface of the bag member, and an elastic shape holder wrapped in the bag member. Heretofore, the pump connecting port has generally been positioned at a central portion of the bag member.
However, in order to fix the pump connecting port integrally connected to the bag member with the suction port of the fuel pump, a retaining ring, such as a toothed lock washer, may be attached. In this case, it has been required to provide a space for inserting therein a jig for attaching the retaining ring between an upper surface of the bag member and a retaining ring attaching portion. Therefore, in order to make the filtering device compact, although the filtering device itself has been made extremely thin, it has been difficult to reduce a dimension in the pump connecting state.
On the other hand, connection of the bag member, the pump connecting port and the elastic shape holder has been generally carried out by an ultrasonic welding apparatus in a state wherein the bag member is sandwiched between the elastic shape holder and the pump connecting port, which results in an expensive equipment cost.
In view of the above defects, the present invention has been made and an object of the invention is to provide a filtering device, wherein a dimension in a pump connecting state of the filtering device can be greatly reduced.
Another object of the invention is to provide a filtering device as stated above, wherein the production equipment can be simplified.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
In order to attain the above objects, according to a first aspect of the invention, in a filtering device including a bag member formed of a mesh member provided with a connecting port with respect to a suction port of a pump, the connecting port is positioned at one side edge of the bag member. Thus, a space corresponding to the height of the bag member located lower than the pump connecting port can be effectively used.
According to a second aspect of the invention, in addition to the structure of the first aspect, a shape holder for holding a shape of the bag member is located in the bag member. A shape holder fixing portion integrally formed with the connecting port is provided inside the bag member, and the shape holder and the shape holder fixing portion are integrally connected through press-in fitting of projections and holes. Thus, without using the welding equipment, the shape holder is attached to the fixing portion only through the simple manual works.
According to a third aspect of the invention, in addition to the structure of the second aspect, the mesh member and the connecting port are integrally connected by an insert molding. The shape holder is connected to the connecting port, and the mesh member is folded so that the shape holder is wrapped. Then, three opening ends of the mesh member are welded. Thus, the mesh member and the connecting port can be positively and easily connected.